Motor drive



June 17, 1924.

. 1,498,317 C. P. BROCKWAY MOTOR DRIVE Filed Oct. 22 1.920 2Sheets-Sheet 1 6 m Fzq. I.

INVENTOR. Carl P. brockwa r.

A TTORNEYS.

June 17, 1924. 1,498,317

C. P. BROCKWAY MOTOR DRIVE Filed 0C(.- 22 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. Y

INVENTOR. Car-1 1 Brockwgy. BY I I ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 17, 1924.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

CARL P. BROCKWAY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH COR-POR TION, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE MOTOR DRIVE.

Application filed October 22, 1920. Serial No. 418,801.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, CARL P. BROCKWAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Motor Drives, of which Ideclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in the driving mechanism betweena starting motor and an engine and has for its main object the provisionof power transmission means between the motor and engine which exerts nolateral force on the motor shaft thereby reducing friction and avoidingbending of the motor shaft.

Another object is the provision of an intermediate wheel between a wheelgeared to the motor and a wheel geared to the engine which intermediatewheel swings about the axis of the motor wheel as a center but is Isupported by a stationary support.

Another object is the provision of means to mount the swingingintermediate wheel in a support which pivots 011 a stationary part ofthe motor itself.

Another object is to provide yieldable stop means which holds the drivewheel yieldably in engagement with the driven wheel.

Another object is to provide such yieldable stop means which does notappreciably oppose the movement to engage the drive wheel and the drivenwheel.

Other objects and those relating to simplicity of construction andeconomies of manufacture will appear as I proceed with a detaileddescription of that particular embodiment of my invention which for thepurposes of illustration I have shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fi re I is an end elevation of the starter showing its relation toa flywheel of an en-' Figure II is a side elevation of the driving [endof the starter.

Figure III is a section on line 3-3 of Fi re I.

igure IV is a section on line 44 of Fi re I.

igure V is a view similar t9 Figure IV but showing a modification.

Similar reference characters refer to sinnlar parts throu hout theseveral views In Figures to V, 1 represents a gear wheel to be driven bythe starting motor 2.

This gear 1 is preferably formed on the periphery of the flywheel of theengine but it may be any gear which is arranged to crank the engine whenturned. The motor 2 is rigidly mounted on the engine frame 6 asdiagrammatically shown in Figure III and has a .pinion 3 fixed to themotor shaft 5. A inion 4 intermeshes with the pinion 3 and is keyed toshaft 7 which is mounted to swing, about the axis of the motor shaft asa center, but is not suspended from the motor shaft itself. A plate 8 isrigidly fixed to the end of the motor 2 and has a project ing bracket 9extending out around the pinion 3 and is provided with a pivot pin 10aligned with the axis of the motor shaft. The shaft 7 has hearings in aswinging frame 11, one end of which is pivoted upon the pin 10 and theother end 18 is pivoted upon the outside of the motor bearing 12. (SeeFigure III.) The shaft. 7 has keyed thereto, as best shown in FigureIII, an inertia wheel 13, which preferably has most of its weight at itsperiphery so as to have a large moment of inertia for its weight.Normally the pinion 4 is held in a position relative to the gear 1 asshown in Fi re I by the spring 16 which may be rigid y fastened to theplate 8 as shown. A notch in the end of spring 16 engages a projection17 on the large bearing 18 of the bracket 11. Of course any other meansmay be employed for holding pinion 4 out of engagement with gear wheel1, such as gravity or any spring means. Preferably such means should actto hold the ears out of engagement only during a 5111511 movement ofgear 4 toward engagement and be strong enough to prevent any accidentalengagement of the gears but not appreciably oppose the mo tion when itis desired to engage-the gears.

In the operation of the starter when the motor suddenly starts byclosing the switch the pinion 3 accelerates pinion 4 against the inertiaof the wheel 13. This inertia causes an appreciable force to be exertedto swing pinion 4 in a counter clockwise direction and engage the gearwheel 1. A stop is arranged to limit this swinging movement when thegears are in proper engagement. One form of such stop is shown in detailin Figure IV. A plunger 19 is pivoted to the bearing 18 by means of pin20. The plunger 19 reciprocates in a small cylinder 21 which is ivotedto a stationary part of the motor. i cusheasy upward movement of theplunger.

However if desired a check valve may allow air to enter the cylinder onthe upward movement of plunger 19 but prevent the escape of air on thedownward movement. In the modification shown in Figure V a compression"spring 25 in the bottom of cylinder 21 will prevent any shock inengaging gears 4 and 1 and yet exert a force tending to disengage thegears only over such avshort distance that the gear teeth will notbecome entirely disengaged but will be yieldingly held together and willride in and out as the engine passes over compression. This riding, to agreater and less depth of engagement is caused by the var ing torque ofthe motor on the gear 1. f course, the stop for this swinging movementmay be formed in various other ways, the requirement being only thatthere be no appreciable opposition to the swinging movement during thefirst part of the movement and yielding opposition during the last partof the movement in order to avoid any shock'of engagement. When theengine starts the gear 1 over-runs the motor pinion 3 and causes thepinion 4 to immediately swing out of engagement with gear 1. Theswinging parts have enough inertia to swing the frame 11 untilprojection 17 falls into the notch in spring 16. The inertia wheel 13 isnow running at the full speed of the motor and therefore the motorpinion 3 cannot exert a sufficient force on pinion 4 to swing it backinto engagement with gear 1. The motor switch is now opened and themotor stops with the pinion 4 in this position allready for the nextstarting operation.

Preferably the motor 2 is positioned so that the angle A between theline joining the centers. of pinion 3 and gear 1 and the line joiningthe centers of pinion 3 and pinion 4 is only about twenty degrees whenpinion 4 is swung to its innermost position of engagement with gear 1.However, this angle A may be made equal to zero when it is desired thatpinion 4 swing through a large are before becoming engaged ordisengaged, or the angle A may be ,made 90 degrees when it is desiredthat it swing through only a very small arc.

The frame 11 is not suspended from the motor shaft since the pressureexerted by the frame 11 would materially increase the friction on themotor shaft 5 as well as to tend to bend the same. This frame 11 may besuspended in any suitable manner other than that shown so long as itswings about the axisof the motor shaft.

While I have described in more or less detail certain embodiments of myinvention I do not Wish to be limited thereto as many modifications willbe obvious to those skilled in the art and without departing from thescope of my invention.

Therefore, I desire to claim my invention broadly as well asspecifically as shown by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a starter drive, in combination, an engine shaft, a wheel thereon,a motor having a shaft, a second wheel'mounted to swing about the axisof the motor shaft as a center but not supported by the motor shaft,said second wheel being actuated by the torque of the motor to engagethe first wheel, and means to yieldingly limit the swinging movement ofsaid second wheel and additional means for retarding the swingingmovement of said wheel.

2. In a starter drive, in combination, an engine shaft, a wheel thereon,a motor having a shaft, a second wheel geared to the motor and mountedto swing about the axis of the motor shaft as a center but not supportedby the motor shaft, said second wheel being actuated by the torque ofthe motor to en age the first wheel, and means to yieldingly limit theswinging movement of said second wheel and additional means forretarding the swinging movement of said wheel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CARL P. BROCKWAY.

